Five Days at Memorial (miniseries)

Five Days at Memorial is an American disaster medical drama television miniseries based on the 2013 book of the same name by Sheri Fink. It was developed, written and directed by John Ridley and Carlton Cuse. The miniseries premiered on August 12, 2022 on Apple TV+.

Premise

The series depicts the difficulties at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina makes landfall on the city.

Cast and characters

Main

Vera Farmiga as Dr. Anna Pou
Cherry Jones as Susan Mulderick
Cornelius Smith Jr. as Dr. Bryant King
Robert Pine as Dr. Horace Baltz
Adepero Oduye as Karen Wynn
Julie Ann Emery as Diane Robichaux
Michael Gaston as Arthur "Butch" Schafer
Molly Hager as Virginia Rider

Recurring

W. Earl Brown as Ewing Cook
Stephen Bogaert as René Goux
Darrin Baker as Dr. Martin Bisley
Ted Atherton as Richard Deichmann
Tammy Isbell as Gina Isbell
Katie Boland as Kristy Johnson
Deborah Hay as Therese Mendez
Sarah Allen as Lori Budo
Sharron Matthews as Cheri Landry
Jessica Greco as Sandra Cordray
Joel Keller as Eric Yancovich
Jonathan Cake as Vince Pou
Jeffrey Nordling as Richard T. Simmons, Jr.
Damon Standifer as Emmett Everett
Lanette Ware as Carrie Everett
J. D. Evermore as Mark LeBlanc
Monica Wyche as Sandra LeBlanc
Dawn Greenhalgh as Elvira 'Vera' LeBlanc
Joy Tanner as Jill
Raven Dauda as Angela McManus
Diane Johnstone as Wilda McManus
Beth Malone as Linda Schafer
Joe Carroll as Michael Arvin
Paulino Nunes as Steven Jones
Alexandra Castillo as Marcia Tellez
Jeremiah Oh as Ken Nakamaru
Ryan Allen as Drew Charles
Tre Smith as Troye
Jessica B. Hill as Kathleen Fournier
Ma-Anne Dionisio as Jane DiMaapi
Malube Uhindu-Gingala as Tarika Hill
Nola Augustson as Minnie Cook
Lorna Wilson as Mrs. Mulderick

Guest

John Diehl as Frank Minyard
Tom Irwin as Walker Shaw
Ervin Ross as Rodney Scott
Natasha Mumba as Tiana Colburn
Philip Craig as Attorney General Charles Foti, Jr.
Ean Castellanos as Michael Morales

Production

Development

In 2013, shortly after its release, Scott Rudin acquired the rights to adapt Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital as a film to be produced with Eli Bush under Scott Rudin Productions. By 2017, the film rights had reportedly lapsed, prompting Ryan Murphy to approach Rudin about adapting Five Days at Memorial for television as the third season of the FX true crime anthology series American Crime Story, with Sarah Paulson set to star as Dr. Anna Pou. The adaptation, however, never came to fruition, and in 2019, Rudin started shopping the project elsewhere. As part of his overall deal with ABC Signature, Carlton Cuse acquired the television rights, and then contacted John Ridley to collaborate. In September 2020, Apple ordered Five Days at Memorial as a limited series to be produced for Apple TV+. Both Cuse and Ridley serve as writers, directors, executive producers, and co-showrunners of the series.

Casting

Vera Farmiga was cast in March 2021, with Adepero Oduye, Cornelius Smith Jr. and Julie Ann Emery joining in April 2021, Cherry Jones and Molly Hager in May 2021, Michael Gaston in June 2021, and Joe Carroll in August 2021.

Filming

Production took place from May 25 to November 10, 2021, in Toronto and New Orleans.

Release

The series premiered on Apple TV+ on August 12, 2022, with its first three episodes. Each following episode was released weekly on Fridays.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86% approval rating with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on 35 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Five Days at Memorial is unflinching to the point of punishing, thoroughly recounting an absolute calamity while giving due to those who tried their best to stanch the tragic fallout." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

The episode "Day Two" won the award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode at the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The show also won Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards.